Leigh Woodruff is Counsel in the Los Angeles office of DeForest Koscelnik Yokitis Skinner & Berardinelli. Ms. Woodruff practices law in the areas of higher education, commercial and product liability litigation, employment, professional liability, and alternative dispute resolution (or “ADR”).

In her higher education practice, Ms. Woodruff works closely with Senior Partner Walter DeForest, a former General Counsel for Carnegie Mellon University. Ms. Woodruff represents and counsels colleges and universities concerning their diverse and often complex legal challenges, in areas including: labor and employment (faculty and staff); admissions; student discipline, diversity, and privacy; corporate governance; First Amendment issues; campus expansion and real estate; sponsored research and technology transfer; financial aid; and accreditation.

In her commercial and product liability litigation practice, Ms. Woodruff has successfully defended clients in a wide range of substantive areas, including contractual disputes, claims of defective product design and manufacture, intellectual property, employment matters, and professional malpractice. Ms. Woodruff has expertise in managing complex electronic discovery as well as national class actions, in which she has defeated class certification and won dismissal on the pleadings and at summary judgment.

In her employment practice, Ms. Woodruff focuses on hiring, promotion, discipline, termination, discrimination, and wage/hour issues. Ms. Woodruff prepares legally compliant documents, including: employment, retention, separation, independent contractor, nondisclosure, and non-compete agreements; disciplinary memoranda and performance improvement plans; and employment policies and handbooks. Ms. Woodruff also advises employers about classifying exempt and non-exempt employees, defining compensable time, and calculating overtime rates. In litigation, Ms. Woodruff has successfully defended employers in single plaintiff cases and class actions.

In her professional liability practice, Ms. Woodruff defends lawyers, architects, and accountants. In this area, Ms. Woodruff’s trial experience includes winning a unanimous jury verdict for an Am Law 100 law firm against a $40 million claim by a multi-national company that the firm had provided erroneous legal advice concerning the Cuban trade embargo and Canadian and U.K. trade laws. Ms. Woodruff also advises professionals on best practices to minimize the risk of professional liability claims.

In her ADR practice, Ms. Woodruff provides early neutral evaluation (or “ENE”), arbitration, and mediation services which protect confidentiality and minimize the expense and business disruption caused by commercial law suits. In ENE, Ms. Woodruff evaluates the case at an early stage – to inform the disputants about the likely outcome before large litigation fees accrue. In arbitration, Ms. Woodruff acts as an impartial adjudicator of the dispute; her decision can be binding or non-binding (depending on the disputants’ arbitration agreement). In mediation, Ms. Woodruff helps parties to move past entrenched positions and engage in interest-oriented discussions focused on resolving the conflict.

Ms. Woodruff is an honors graduate of Villanova University School of Law (J.D. 2000), the University of Chicago (M.A. 1997) and Allegheny College (B.A. 1993); and she has completed over 100 hours of training as a mediator in programs approved by the Association for Conflict Resolution. A native of Philadelphia, Ms. Woodruff is admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In addition, she is admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania, the District of New Jersey, and the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Ms. Woodruff now resides in Los Angeles with her daughter and husband, who serves as the Provost of a local university. Ms. Woodruff is seeking admission to the California bar in 2012. Valuing community service, Ms. Woodruff has served as a library trustee and a volunteer custody mediator in family court. Her presentations and papers include: Jurisdiction and Forum Selection Issues in the American Common Law System – A Practicing Litigator’s View, presentation at Universidad Mayor School of Law, Santiago, Chile (2010); Dealing with Electronic Crime in the Workplace: Hacking, Stealing Trade Secrets, Fraud, Embezzlement and More, PBI Employment Law Handbook and CLE presentation (2004); and Managing Outside Counsel in Litigation: A Primer, ACCA Docket, Vol. 21, No. 4 (2003).